LVN or RN????

dinah77, ADN · May 1, 2015

LVNs have a smaller scope of practice/less autonomy than RNs. Which one to pursue largely depends on where you live, what your area of interest is, career goals, etc.

For instance, I live in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, and I would NOT recommend LVN to anyone here if they have an interest in critical care/hospital jobs unless they are okay with eventually going back for RN anyhow. The job market here is VERY tight for RNs, let alone LVNs.

My hospital is one of the few who still employs LVNs, and one of the LVNs who started here 7 months back came here after her previous hospital fired ALL of the LVNs, one of many to do so in the last decade. They were replaced with a few more RNs and CNAs

Here, the only real job opportunities for LVNS are in LTC or clinics. SOME home health, but not much.

Consider all of the above points, and then ask yourself the following:

1. What is the job market like in my area?

2. Do I plan on living where I am for the rest of my life or would I like the freedom to move someday to anywhere of my choosing?

3. Am I okay with eventually having to go back to school for RN if need be?

4. Am I okay with only working in LTC or clinics for my career?

Tanya125 · May 1, 2015

LVNs have a smaller scope of practice/less autonomy than RNs. Which one to pursue largely depends on where you live, what your area of interest is, career goals, etc.
For instance, I live in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, and I would NOT recommend LVN to anyone here if they have an interest in critical care/hospital jobs unless they are okay with eventually going back for RN anyhow. The job market here is VERY tight for RNs, let alone LVNs.
My hospital is one of the few who still employs LVNs, and one of the LVNs who started here 7 months back came here after her previous hospital fired ALL of the LVNs, one of many to do so in the last decade. They were replaced with a few more RNs and CNAs
Here, the only real job opportunities for LVNS are in LTC or clinics. SOME home health, but not much.
Consider all of the above points, and then ask yourself the following:
1. What is the job market like in my area?
2. Do I plan on living where I am for the rest of my life or would I like the freedom to move someday to anywhere of my choosing?
3. Am I okay with eventually having to go back to school for RN if need be?
4. Am I okay with only working in LTC or clinics for my career?

I live in Southern California I do plan on going back to get my BSN once I graduate from the LVN program... Probably the bridge program. I start next month I'm just curious if I should just go straight into the BSN program am I wasting time? Also, What can't LVNs do compared to RN's? Is the schooling as hard as the RN program?

HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD · May 4, 2015

Asking "how hard" is basically unanswerable. It's like asking about 'how soft', 'how sad', or 'how cold' something is.... because the answer is dependent on a person's own frame of reference. People who are quick learners will tell you "it's easy", and others will provide horror stories about the difficulties they have encountered.

But you can look at facts. If you want to see the difference between an RN & LVN take a look at the scopes of practice for your state- available from your BON..... Here's the one for my state. Another fact - if you want to have a nursing job in a hospital, you need a BSN. LVNs continue to be employed in LTC, clinics, Home Care and other non-acute settings. You can look at program requirements and figure out how much money and time it will take to fulfill all of them. You can look at the GPA that will be required to get into different types of nursing programs.

I would also encourage you to look at requirements for other types of healthcare professions that have equivalent or even better salaries than nursing. Many of them require the same sorts of pre-requisites, but have less competitive admission requirements right now.

Best of luck to you on your educational journey.